Human rights in post-invasion Iraq have been the subject of concerns and controversies since the 2003 invasion. Concerns have been expressed about conduct by insurgents, the U.S.-led coalition forces and the Iraqi government. The U.S. is investigating several allegations of violations of international and internal standards of conduct in isolated incidents by its own forces and contractors. The UK is also conducting investigations of alleged human rights abuses by its forces. War crime tribunals and criminal prosecution of the numerous crimes by insurgents are likely years away. In late February 2009, the U.S. state department released a report on the human rights situation in Iraq, looking back on the past year (2008).
Human rights in pre-Saddam Iraq were often lacking to various degrees among the various regimes that ruled the country. Human rights abuses in the country predated the rule of Saddam Hussein.
The Assyrian Democratic Movement, usually abbreviated as ADM and popularly known as Zowaa is an Assyrian political party situated in Iraq, and one of the main Assyrian parties within the Iraqi parliament.
The Assyrian Patriotic Party is a political party in Iraq representing Assyrians that has been led by Emanuel Khoshaba Youkhana, since the 4th APP conference in Duhok in 2011. In 2018 They allied with the Assyrian Democratic Movement in a political group called the National Rafidain List for the Iraqi parliamentary election, 2018.
Assyrians in Iraq are an ethnic and linguistic minority in present-day Iraq, and are the indigenous population of the region. Assyrians are about 1% of the population of Iraq. Assyrians in Iraq are those Assyrians still residing in the country of Iraq, and those in the Assyrian diaspora who are of Iraqi-Assyrian heritage. They are and have direct cultural and genetic lineage from the ancient Mesopotamians, in particular from the Akkadian peoples who emerged in the region c. 3000 BC, and the Aramean tribes who intermingled with them from the 9th century BC onwards.
The Bet-Nahrain Democratic Party, usually abbreviated as BNDP is an Assyrian political party in Iraq led by Romeo Nissan Hakkari. One of the party's goals is to create an autonomous Assyrian Administrative Region within the Assyrian homeland.
The Assyrian homeland or Assyria refers to a geographic and cultural region situated in Northern Mesopotamia that has been traditionally inhabited by Assyrian people. The areas that form the Assyrian homeland are parts of present-day northern Iraq, southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran and, more recently, northeastern Syria. Moreover, the area that had the greatest concentration of Assyrians in the world until recently is located in the Assyrian Triangle, a region which comprises the Nineveh plains, southern Hakkari and the Barwari regions. This is where some Assyrian groups seek to create an independent nation state.
Assyrian Universal Alliance, usually abbreviated as AUA and popularly known as Khoyada is an ethnic Assyrian worldwide umbrella organization made up of different sectors of the Assyrian federations and organizations throughout the world.
Nineveh Plains is a region in Iraq's Nineveh Governorate to the north and east of the city Mosul, from which it is also known as the Plain of Mosul. It was formerly known as the Plain of Sanjar or Sinjar from its major medieval settlement. It was the location of al-Khwārizmī's determination of a degree during the reign of the caliph al-Mamun.
Chaldean Catholics, known simply as Chaldeans, are Assyrian adherents of the Chaldean Catholic Church which originates from the Church of the East.
Assyrians in Lebanon include migrants of Assyrian origin residing in Lebanon, as well as their descendants. Most of the Assyrians in Lebanon came as refugees from northern Iraq, one of the four locations of the indigenous Assyrian homeland areas which are part of today's northern Iraq, southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran and, more recently, northeastern Syria. There are an estimated 40,000 to 80,000 Iraqi Assyrian refugees in Lebanon. The vast majority of them are undocumented, with a large number having been deported or put in prison. They belong to various denominations, including the Assyrian Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, and Syriac Catholic Church. Three Assyrian/Syriac/Aramean parties are established in Lebanon, Shuraya party, Syriac Union Party, and Aramean Democratic Organization.
Assyrian nationalism or Assyrianism increased in popularity in the late 19th century in a climate of increasing ethnic and religious persecution of the indigenous Assyrians of what is today northern Iraq, south-east Turkey and north-west Iran.
Assyrian folk/pop music, also known as Assyrian folk music, Assyrian pop music or Syriac music, is the traditional music style of Assyrian people. Assyrian music includes a broad range of genre, which would encompass, or fuse, western genres such as electronic, Latin, jazz and/or classical music, with a melodic influence of Assyrian folk. Assyrian songs are usually lengthy, tending to be around 5 minutes long on average.
Assyrian politics in Iraq have been taking many different turns since the US invasion of Iraq in 2003. Today, there are many different Assyrian political parties in Iraq. The main Assyrian party that came out from the 2005 elections was the Assyrian Democratic Movement. However, Sarkis Aghajan began to challenge its power beginning in 2006 with the opening of Ishtar TV and the KDP-affiliated Chaldean Syriac Assyrian Popular Council.
Chaldean Syriac Assyrian Popular Council popularly known as Motwa is a political party in Iraq that was founded by Sarkis Aghajan, a high-ranking KDP, in 2007. The Party runs Ishtar TV and publishes several different monthly magazines.
Throughout history there were few proposals for the establishment of an autonomy or an independent state for the Syriac-speaking Assyrians in northern Iraq.
The Sons of Mesopotamia also known as Abnaa Al-Nahrain and Bnay Nahrain is an ethnic Assyrian political party based in northern Iraq. It was founded in 2013, and is headquartered in Erbil, Iraq. Established to further the political objectives of the Assyrian people in Iraq, the party currently holds one seat in the Iraqi Kurdistan Parliament. According to its official website, the party exists as a renewed commitment to the Assyrian national cause, for the betterment of the Assyrian people, and to advance their struggle for legitimate rights in Iraq.
The Nineveh Plain Forces or NPF is a military organization that was formed on 6 January 2015 by indigenous Assyrian Christians in Iraq, in cooperation with Peshmerga, to defend against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. The Nineveh plains are a region at the heart of the Assyrian homeland. The militia is affiliated with the Bet-Nahrain Democratic Party and the Beth Nahrain Patriotic Union (HBA), the latter being part of the secular Dawronoye movement. It participated in the Battle of Mosul (2016–2017).
